MEETING THE CHALLENGE WITH CHICKEN

MEETING THE CHALLENGE WITH CHICKEN

It's the challenges in life that makes us stronger.  Right?  Well, in my case, I hope the challenges in life make me thinner.  Well, "challenge" singular, anyway.

What's the challenge?  Having wonderful meals while dieting that will inspire me to keep on keeping on.  So when I become cooking 'diet challenged' as I'm wont (love that word) to do two - three - four nights a week, Richard meets that challenge and restores my commitment to calorie/point counting.

One of my favorite Ca del Sole dishes (from a restaurant I reviewed here  some months ago) is a pounded, sauteed chicken salad.  It's light, low in calories/points and is delicious.  Richard has since created his own version of that salad and made it for me the other night.  And, the icing on the cake:  it's really, really cheap.  Less than $5.00 a person and in these economic times - cheap and delicious AND healthful is a very good thing.

Below are Richard's sauteed chicken salad instructions.

SAUTEED CHICKEN SALAD

Pound a skinless boneless chicken breast to app. 1/4" thickness (Richard uses one half breast for two people) -  usually the chicken breasts we use are the frozen ones you get at Costco - which amounts to pennies  a breast.

Heat oil in skillet
Bread the chicken, or panko them, or flour them, (or not... don't really have to if you don't want.)
Crack a couple of eggs into a shallow pan (Richard uses only egg whites, fewer calories and cholesterol)...
Season the egg whites w/salt, pepper and any herb you like (rosemary, thyme, etc) - then dip the breaded or floured chicken into the egg whites.

Note:  This is different from the traditional way to "bread" things.  Traditionally, there are three steps:
1) Flour. Shake off excess. This helps the egg hold on.
2) Egg wash.  Again, shake off excess.
3) Breading

Richard, taking a cue from the Tyler Florence sole almondine recipe (which I also blogged about)... eliminated one of the carb steps.  He didn't flour, then egg wash, then bread.  He breaded first, then egg washed, then continued.

Sautee the pounded chicken breast for about three minutes per side until golden brown on outside...
should be moist on the inside.

Arrange a bed of lettuce or arugula or watercress or mache... or just about any greens on a plate...

Add any other steamed or sauteed veggie you like (He sauteed some leftover string beans with shallots, added a few toasted slivered almonds)

You can also add some sliced tomatoes, olives, whatever...

Place chicken on top.

Don't need any dressing, but if you must, a nice balsamic vinaigrette would be tasty.

SOLE FOOD

SOLE FOOD

Did your mom ever say these words to you when you were growing up:  "Finish your dinner, there are starving children in China," or: "You're not leaving this table until you finish everything on your plate!"

Well my mother said the former - a lot (mostly about vegetables), but I only remember her making me sit at the dinner table once because I wouldn't eat the food on my plate.  That food was fish.  Not the little sunflower seeds (perch) we caught at Lake Boone that had been filleted and floured and breaded and fried up for breakfast like the fish in 'fish & chips,' nor was it delectable golden broiled swordfish.  Sitting there on my plate making me gag was fishy fish - all slimey and white w/ bones!.  I couldn't eat it. I wouldn't eat it!  I don't remember how long I sat at the table, but I know I never ate that fish. 

Well, my distaste for fishy fish 'left the building' the first time I had sole almondine.  Julia Child had it right.  Butter!  And when I reluctantly put that first bite of fish in my mouth, like Julia when she first tasted sole meuniere, my taste buds soared.  The toasted almonds!  The golden brown tender fish!  The butter!  The French really do know how to cook.

Since that life-changing food experience, I have learned to enjoy a whole array of fish dishes, but none compares to sole almondine.  This sole soothes the soul.

As some of you know, I've been 'South Beach Watcher-ing' (my So. Beach-Weight Watchers diet) and have been dining on lettuce, lean meats, fish, chicken and green veggies...  w/ poor results.  I'm frustrated and yearn to fall off the diet horse for a cheeseburger, but decided that that 'tumble' would be too devastating to my taste buds...  I'd never be able to climb back into the 'food deprivation' saddle.  I needed a dish that might be a little over-the-top calorie wise, but wouldn't lead me astray.  Without prior knowledge of my love affair w/ sole almondine, Richard decided he wanted to try making it after watching some show or other on the Food Network.  We had percale sole in the freezer (this is not a dish for Dover sole which tends to get mushy).  We had flour.  We had Kosher salt.  We had eggs and milk.  We had pepper.  We had EVOO.  AND, we had sweet butter.  All he needed was the slivered almonds.  My heart soared in taste anticipation as I sent him on his merry Trader Joe way to get them.

Well, dinner was all I expected it to be.  I haven't had sole almondine in years (don't know why - just haven't) and taking that first bite again reminded me what great food is suppose to taste like.  (Oh, and the veggie he made - another favorite - steamed spinach w/ a bit of butter and lemon juice.)

Lunch today - romaine lettuce and a hard boiled egg... sigh. 

SOLE ALMONDINE

From Tyler Florence
(Food Network)

Ingredients:
For the Fish:

2 cups blanched slivered almonds
Kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
Freshly ground black pepper
4 eggs
1 cup milk
4 cleaned sole fillets (6 ounces each)

For the Sauce:

1 large or 2 small shallots, finely chopped
1 cup white wine
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 chopped flat-leaf parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Set a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Add the almonds and toast until golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and set aside.

Return the pan to medium heat (if you have 2 pans you can work simultaneously at this point, i.e. 2 fillets per pan) and add a 2-count of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter to each pan.

Put the flour in a shallow dish and season with salt and pepper, to taste. In another shallow dish, whisk together the eggs and milk and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Dredge the fillets in the seasoned flour, then dip them into the egg mixture. Allow some of the excess egg to drain off, then add them to the hot pan. Cook 2 pieces at a time. Fry for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, then carefully turn the fish over to cook the other side. With a spoon, baste the fillets with the butter sauce. Repeat basting to ensure the fish remains moist. Once the other side is cooked (about 30 seconds) carefully remove the fillets from the pan to a serving platter.

Repeat with remaining 2 fillets and a 2-count of oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. Once the fillets have been removed the pan, add the chopped shallots and gently saute over low heat until translucent, about 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and finish with the lemon juice. Swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the parsley and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

To serve, spoon the sauce over the top of the fillets and sprinkle generously with the toasted almonds.